9 Hours 9 Person 9 Doors
by Noctsuke Yukimura
Summary: Kotori awakens from a deep slumber she could hardly recall and finds herself in a cabin of a ship. As she looked around the place to scan around, the room started to flood with water. In a panic she reached for the door to find out it is locked up tight. Without any hints or any other help, she must seek a way out. 999 AU. Kotori's POV in 3rd person. Reviews are certainly welcome!
1. The Beginning of A Nightmare

**Hello everyone! **

**I know I said I was going to make a HonoMaki **

**BUT**

**The idea to make a 999 AU of Love Live was seriously the best and worst thing I could think up as I procrastinate on my homework!**

**So the HonoMaki will be pushed next week and every week I will update 1 or 2 stories if possible from either the zombie one or this. I think the honomaki one will just be one shot because this and the zombie one will be a very long journey. **

**And this AU I will do ALL 6 endings and choices will be highlighted like so [...]**

**I hope you will enjoy this mystery ride with me because I'm sure hyped of what I'll be able to come up with because I will still use LL characters. **

**For those who played, you'll be surprised who gets what number bracelet because I try to match all the original character's personality with the cast of u's**

**Of course, I don't own Love Live. Who the hell owns anything here except OCs wwwwwww**

* * *

The sound of a ship's horn echoes throughout the room, almost shaking the whole place as the deepness beckons to a woman that's lying peacefully in a bunk bed to rise from her deep slumber. A part of her gray hair fluttered down gently and swiped across her nose. That itself made her regain consciousness.

Kotori slowly stood up, still half-dazed, but without her realizing, the roof of the bed above her was so low, her head collided with a loud thud that will surely leave a nasty bruise later on.

"Ouch, that hurts..." She muttered as she rubbed her temples to ease the pain, unfortunately to no avail.

But the pain had managed to shake off all her weariness and she finally noticed she was somewhere unfamiliar. First of all, she didn't have a bunk bed in her house, and the room was definitely a lot smaller than hers. The walls were made of a metal and only one porthole window was present just behind her.

_"__Where am I?...What is this place? Am I in a ship?"_ she wondered. Kotori has traveled a lot, either by land, air, or sea, and from the porthole and surrounding enviroment, she could conclude it was a cabin of a ship, perhaps the ones for the crew.

Beside the bed she was sitting on was a sink with a window hinged above as well as a small shelf. A picture of a large ship was present on top of said shelf. It reminded the yellow-eyed designer of a movie she saw in the past about a ship that sunk because of a big hunk of iceberg. She could only recall the scene when the male died of hypothermia by being in the water too long as her lover pushed away his lifeless body into the deep blue sea. It was a sad tale, she noted.

Across from where she slept, another bunk bed was present and there were three beds stacked up. She couldn't imagine the people that actually used this kind of bed in a cramped place like this. Every day would be torture with either a bad back or a lump on the head, just like hers. But even so, it has been kept well; it's dustless and the blue blankets covering all the beds seemed fresh; the pillow as well. There was even a blue suitcase resting on top of the lowest bed, she concluded it was probably owned by one of the crew.

She gazed to her right, where an antique stove stood in all its rusted glory. It was a bit odd considering the whole place seemed very tidy. But I guess it is rarely used. A metal teapot was placed on top of it, probably untouched.

Lastly, she gazed to the opposite side of the stove. A big metal door with the number 5 was painted on with, hopefully, red paint. Hey yellow eyes gleamed as she thought to herself, _"Ah! A way out__ of here__!"_

But, as she stood up from the bed to reach the door, a loud crack could be heard. Her head spun around to find the source of the unsettling sound. Her frantic search stopped as her eyes fixated to a small crack on the porthole. The crackling continued as the fracture on the glass continued to spread to the point it finally gave in. A gush of water poured out like crazy from the hole.

"Eh?! Is that sea water? Oh no, I'm going to drown!" she think aloud as she ushered towards the door. She tried to open the door but it seems it's locked. She kept trying to pull and push the door open as her other hand banged on the door. "Help! Someone! The ship is sinking!"

As she banged away on the door, she noticed a watch on her left wrist. Though if it was a normal watch she would think nothing of it, but this watch didn't have digits or numbers on it. Only a digital number 5 was displayed. She tried to tinker with the other buttons but it didn't work.

_"__What a weird looking watch..."_ she thought to herself as she flipped over her hand to release it to get a better look, but there was no clasp or button for it to release, she tugged away at it but it didn't even budge, the wristwatch was firmly stuck to her arm.

"E-Eh?! Why isn't it coming off? Oh God..." she cried out as she kept tugging on it.

In her peak of confusion and desperation, she finally saw something from the corner of her eyes. A blue card reader or some sort was placed just beside the door. The small red light on the odd looking device suggested it was locked. There was a lever beside it, but she couldn't think of a reason why it would be on the card reader. Perhaps to register the card, like an enter button?

She flopped to the floor, disregarding the fact the room was still filling up with water. Her whole clothes are soaked and she was still baffled completely by the situation she was in. No way out. Her doom was near. She doesn't even know where she is at; she could be far away from Japan for all we know. Her thoughts were full of worries and doubts. But deep down she knows, or perhaps, she has the urge...

**T****o** **_seek a way out._**


	2. The First Escape

**HEY GUYS HOW ARE YOU LOVELIES DOING!**

**God I feel so ashamed I could only update this now considering I had exams and lots of shit at school but it's all cool.**

**So, spoiler alert if you haven't played the game but if you're lazy to do that then thats fine too.**

**If the whole getting the fuck out of the room phase is boring I wish I could remove it but it is very essential in the future since there will be other characters and that will get interesting ehhh**

**And I promised to do all endings of this so**

***INHALES AND RELEASE***

**It will be a very very long journey**

**But I hope you will enjoy it as much as I've written this.**

**I don't own Love Live or 999!**

* * *

Kotori began to recollect her senses. Even with her uncomfortable damp clothes, she started to breathe deeply and slowly, trying to give herself the strength to pull through this predicament. She refused to give in into despair just yet. Her mind was in havoc. Her heart couldn't stop beating out of her chest. But if she doesn't calm down, she can't think straight and find any means to escape.

When she has finally regained some sense, she unconciously touched her left wrist. The feeling of cold metal reminded her of the wristwatch that has been placed firmly on her arm.

_"This watch..."_, she held her left wrist near her face_, "Mmm...I don't remember having this...Someone must have put it on me...Maybe?"_ She began to wonder as she stood up, _"Hmm...Someone must have intentionally put me in here...But who would do such a thing?"_

She glanced around the room to think of something that she could use for her escape, and her eyes were afixed to the blue suitcase on the bed. She picked it up and tried to find the clasp or padlock to open it. It was under the handle, securely locked with a 4-digit code and a keyhole. She tried to turn one of the digits, but it wouldn't budge.

_"It's going to take me awhile if I put it random codes..And even if I wanted to waste my time doing it, I have to find the key to unlock the lock...Maybe there's something in here that can break the lock!" _

Her gaze wondered to the hole in the window, still continuously gushing out water. Her nerves tensed up. Dread washed over the poor girl and she looked down. The water level was now near her knees. She shook her head furiously.

_"Focus Kotori! Focus!"_ she encouraged herself, _"I must get out of here!"_

Her determination was truly remarkable, despite the fact she's well-known for her timid nature. But the feeling of death is near, an excruciating, agonizing death to add up, in her mind she has to escape. For the sake of her own being.

_And her dearest friends..._

Now that she thought about it, how did she managed to get here? She tried to recall the memories before she woke up, but only pain pulsed inside her skull. She tried harder, forcing all her wits until she could recall her friends from µ's.

_"It's been such a long time since we got together...", _she sighed.

Ever since she graduated, she has been separated from her friends. She took a scholarship to a well-known fashion designer college in France. She did frequently contact them at first, but it has became scarce ever since she graduated from college and worked full-time in an infamous fashion designer studio. Her name spreaded quickly as she was known as a young-genious among the fashion world.

_And at that moment she remembered what happened before._

* * *

It was almost 12 AM when she got back home to her apartment. She quickly jumped on her bed without changing or anything. Her feet was sore all over from wearing heels all day, so she couldn't bear to stand any longer. Her acuaintances didn't give her any break throughout the after party she had to attend for yet another success by Kotori's group of designers.

Tomorrow she must leave to leave for Spain, because her boss hooked her up to work together with a talented designer from there for 5 months. Her life has been a non-stop upward coaster. It's weird how she's able to achieve it all.

As she was about to fall into a deep slumber, someone knocked on her door. She stood up and reached for the door handle.

After that though...She couldn't recall anything else. She felt something was missing, _something important_, but for now she must continue her search.

* * *

Beside her was the rusted stove. The water has sunk half of the stove. She opened a small door placed on the front, it is used for wood or coal to be placed. Inside she spotted an odd object stuck firmly in place. A red handle that seemed out of place. She tugged a little and it loosened, revealing a working** [screwdriver]**. If the case had screws just like the head of the item she's holding now, she could unscrew the lock. She decided it would be better to keep it anyways.

Afterwards, she glanced at the teapot. Shiny and yet it looks very old. She picked it up and gave it a small rattle. A sound came out of it, signing there was something inside, something solid. She opened the lid to find a **[small key]**, sadly not for the door that stood in her path to freedom. It was blue, just like the suitcase.

_"Could it fit in the keyhole?"_ she wondered as she slid the key inside her pocket.

She looked around again, and her eyes met with another pair of yellow eyes just like her. The mirror atop of the sink gave of her reflection in which she flinched a little seeing herself. She walked towards the sink and began to inspect it. The mirror hid a compartment filled with an empty can of painkillers and a broken razor. There was also something hidden underneath the painkiller. A **[piece of paper]**.

It had triangles of different shape and also squares, all total of four. Some of them are filled and some are not. And two on the left side were colored with blue and the other red. It looks like some sort of puzzle hint.

_"Nothing else is useful besides this thing...Is it some sort of code?"_ she thought as she shoved the paper inside her pocket.

She looked at the sink. Quite old by the looks of it but it's a charm point in a room like this, without the water of course. Looking slightly above, the picture of, probably, the infamous giant sinking boat, framed with a simple elegant wooden frame. She picked it up and took a closer look.

It was grayscale, of course, since the boat sailed around 1912. This picture looks like an original, though, maybe it could also be a fake. She flipped the frame around and the back was sealed with screws. Fortunately, the screw she just found fits perfectly on it. She unscrewed the back and took out the picture. It felt like photo paper, surely not common in the past. And there were drawings of red and blue triangles, accompanied by numbers from one until zero

_"Is this some sort of code?"_

She slipped the **[photo]** inside her pocket. As she does so, her fingers brushed against the key she found earlier. Immediately she was reminded of the locked suitcase on the bed.

She waddle through the water until she was beside the bunk bed again. She took out the key inside her pocket. Her other hand glided across the top of the case until it settled on the keyhole beside the 4-digit lock. She inserted the key.

Click.

It's a perfect fit.

Her fingers rested on top of the other lock. She spun one of the slots a few times. It works now. But now she had to figure out the code for it.

_"Hmm...There must be a code for this around here..."_ she sighed and threw the case inside, which nudge the pillow behind. She was about to look somewhere else, but she spotted something under the pillow from the corner of her eyes. A piece of paper. She pulled it out and to her surprise it was only filled with four different kind triangles and an arrow at the bottom. And the color of those things were split into the red on the left side and blue on the other.

_"Those triangles look oddly familiar..."_ she could recall the same shape in the back of the photo of the ship and then she was reminded there was a similar four shape code like this from the cabinet. Her mind made a connection that this could be the code for the suitcase, but it feels like it's still incomplete in some way. The difference of color made her unsure.

_"Is there another suitcase here?"_

She looked around and she couldn't see any signs of one. She even climbed to the top of both of the bunk beds and managed to slip up and fall into the still flooded floor. She hoped there would be a shower or something at the end of this struggle. Being soaked is never a fun case for the designer.

Just as she stood up, her eyes wandered to a compartment that's closed by a white curtain. She reached for it and pulled it aside.

Red.

Her theory was correct. There are two suitcases in the room.

_"If that's the case, the red part of the code is for the red suitcase, and vice versa! I might have solved this!"_

She flung herself to the said case and quickly punched in the numbers according to the puzzle piece and answer she has found. The case made a click sound after she managed to match the triangles with the numbers and color. Her train of thoughts were correct.

_"Thank goodness..."_ she sighed in relief.

She opened the case with anticipation. But sadly, it was only filled with a single big **[file]**. She picked it up and took a look inside. There was one paper at the beginning and the rest were all empty, so she didn't bother to look until the end.

She went back to the first page and began reading. It might prove useful.

* * *

**[Digital Root]**

_Compute a digital root with the following steps:_

_1)__Add all the numbers in question to one another._

_2)__If you end up with something greater than a single-digit number, add the digits to one another again until you reach a single-digit answer._

_3)__The final digit is the digital root._

_For example, the digital root of 678 and 1234 are:_

_6 + 7 + 8 = 21 - 2 + 1 = 3_

_In conclusion, 3 is the digital root of 678._

_1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10 - 1 + 0 = 1_

_In conclusion, 1 is the digital root of 1234._

* * *

"Ahh...I think I understand. You just add the numbers until there's only one left. That's pretty easy!" she giggled.

She turned back the file and open the very back of it. There was a pen, a notebook, and also a calculator. Behind it, there were a few blue **[keycards]** sticking out. She pulled it out and examined them.

On the cards were the numbers 6, 7, and 8.

_"This could be for the door...I better check the other case first though. But where is the other key?"_

She walked to the door to try it out anyways. Couldn't hurt to do it, she believed. She swiped all the cards and pull the lever, sadly to no effect. She sighed and turned her head.

There was a sheet of black cloth covering something. Something square.

_"Suspicious..."_

She tugged the cloth away to reveal a big mirror. Her reflection stared back at her. And now that she noticed, she looks like she's absolutely sleep deprived. Her eyes were slightly swollen and she hasn't exactly ate anything since last night since she was preoccupied with her colleagues.

And that's when she remember...

* * *

_"Who is it?"_ Kotori chimed, though her voice sounded a bit sleepy.

She looked through the peekhole to see who it was but there was no one. She opened the door to make sure. Maybe one of her so-called friends decided to prank her. But when she did...

Clank clank clank...

_"Did I drop something?"_

She looked behind and saw something she wouldn't imagine to actually drop inside her apartment.

_A smoke grenade._

The room was quickly engulfed with smoke. She closed off her nose but she already inhaled some of it and she dropped to the floor, nearly unconcious.

She looked up. A person was standing in front of her, fully cloaked and with a gas mask. Is it a he or a she? What was this person doing here and even worse, trying to knock her out with gas?

The cloaked person spoke up.

_"Consider this a privelage. You have been chosen."_

The person's voice sounded rasp, it was cold and slightly muffled as well. Was he or she using a voice changer? Kotori couldn't muster up anymore care as her body felt numb.

_"You are going to participate in a game. The __**[Nonary Game]**__. It is a game that you will put your life on the line."_

And afterwards, her consciousness faded.

* * *

Color drained from her face as she remembered what her mysterious guest said. She was seriously in danger, the water was now below her waist. But, it was a good thing she followed her instincts and tied clues together from the things she found. This is a cruel game she had been entrusted with. But now is not the time to congratulate herself or think about more details regarding the person or the Nonary Game. She glanced down slightly, and there it was.

_"The other key!"_

She pulled it away from the mirror since it was sticked firmly onto it and dashed to the last case.

She quickly inputted the key, punched in the numbers and flung the case open. There were three more keycards inside, but the color was red and the numbers were 1, 2, and 3. She dashed back to the door and tried those out but to no avail.

_"Hmm...What else is there that could help me get out?" _she muttered as she chewed her nail. But then she was reminded of the file she found before. It was regarding the digital root. _"Should I find what number that has the digital root of 5 since it's on the door?"_

She pulled out the calculator and punched in some numbers from the card she has. Luckily the calculator has a digital root function.

She inputted, 1, 6, and 7.

1 + 6 + 7 = 14 - 1 + 4 = 5

And slamed down the level.

...

**Beep.**

The red light changed to green and the door made an unlocking sound.

She pushed the door forward and quickly ran to her right. The flood of water from the room she was in was slowly closing in on her. At the end of the hall she's going through there was a single door up front. She ran faster and faster, until finally she could grab onto the handle and flung the door open and closed it immediately using her feet as she flops to the ground.

_"T-That was too close..."_ she huffed.

_"Kotori?"_ A familiar voice spoke up.

_"U-Umi-chan?!"_


	3. Announcement For The Vievers

**Hello everyone this is Noctsuke. **

**I'll update the Zombie AU in like 3 days or so but I would like to inform everyone who follows this story that it will be changed greatly, Honoka will be the main character and the rest I'll think of something. I apologize for the great inconvenience but I just discussed the whole plot with another Love Liver that also plays 999 and yeahh...**

**Again I truly apologize for this.**


End file.
